The Government Arsenal's Pursuit of a Rifle Manufacturing Program - Is the DND up to Support it?

The Government Arsenal (GA), an agency under the Department of National Defense (DND) under the leadership of Director Jonathan Martir, has made several leaps to boost its capability to produce rifles and ammunition for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and all other armed military and civilian agencies of the Philippine government.Under normal circumstances, it would have been very beneficial for them that the government is pushing for the modernization of the AFP which has started in 1995 and was extended in 2013 all the way to 2028. In all phases of the modernization program, there were several requirements for arms and ammunition which the Government Arsenal's capability could be beneficial. This is also true for the PNP, PCG, and other agencies like the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), etc.But recent acquisitions of the intended users of these products, the AFP and PNP, as well as other government agencies, recently completed their own small arms acquisition without considering GA's products.

The Government Arsenal proposed different rifles for different purposes, but all coming from the M16 / M4 family.Photo taken from Government Arsenal's Facebook page.

The Government Arsenal has only recently been able to manufacture rifles on its own, and is still not capable of doing so in full production as most of its offerings are proposals or prototypes as of this writing. Most of its proposals are based on the M16 and M4 rifle variant, which is the current standard rifle of the entire AFP and many other Philippine government armed agencies.The choice to stay true to the M16 / M4 line was more of a practical choice. Rather than moving to a new product which requires a total system change for the entire weapon support and user system, it was best to stick to the proven weapon of choice of its main ally, the United States, while making use of the extensive knowledge of GA, AFP, and PNP with the M16/M4 line, and making use of its inventory of common parts and accessories used on exisiting M16 and M4 rifles.GA also has equipment to manufacture certain parts of the of M16/M4 series, which minimizes the need to invest for new equipment to forge and build new types of rifles based on other foreign models. And sticking to the M16/M4 design reduces the need for familiarization or armorers and those involved in the manufacturing of the rifles.These, among others, are the primary reason on the overwhelming decision of the DND and AFP to stick to the M16/M4 series to replace its older M16A1 rifles instead of buying newer designs like the Israeli Tavor, the Korean K2, or the German G36.But creating its own rifle was not an easy task, and it took the GA several years and attempts to produce its own M16-based weapon systems, without assistance from foreign arms manufacturers except for provision of certain parts like barrel, buttstock, plastic parts, and sights.Among examples of weapons systems being developed by the Government Arsenal:1. GA 5.56mm Carbine M4 - a prototype was released in 2011, with the GA director describing it as adhering to the M4A1 system used by most Western and allied Special Operations Forces. No full production was reported of this variant as of this writing.2. GA 5.56mm Mid-Length Carbine - another prototype released in 2011, similar to the 14.5" barreled M4 carbine but using a 16" mid length barrel. A spin-off includes a DMR variant specially for the SOCOM units who prefer a 16" mid length barrel instead of the 18" variant. It is only this month that GA produced several units for testing and evaluation by the AFP's Joint Special Operations Group (JSOG) and the Philippine Navy's Naval Special Operations Group (NAVSOG). It is expected that if the tests are favorable and only minimal changes were requested, GA could produce the final production variant by early 2016.

3. GA 5.56mm Special Purpose Rifle (SPR) - a prototype released in 2011 as the Designated Marksman Rifle / Special Purpose Rifle (DMR/SPR), it features an 18" free floating bull barrel in a 1:7 RH twist rifling, and optics that would allow it to be effective until a range of 800 meters. The development is considered a continuing development of the successful Marine Scout Sniper Rifle (MSSR) series used by the Philippine Marine Corps

GA's SMR rifle, as displayed in a recently concluded arms show in Manila.Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons.

4. GA 10" Personal Defense Weapon (PDW) - it was only in 2012 that GA was able to release the prototype of this rifle, which uses components from the M16-series rifle with a 10" long barrel in a 1:10 right hand twist rifling, while using a special 7.62x37mm Musang round designed specifically by GA for this rifle and is said to be effective for Close Quarter Battle (CQB) and Night Fighting requirements. It was expected to be in production by 2014. But as of this writing, it appears that production of several units for testing by the AFP was stalled due to lacking compnents which can be traced from supplier issues. The GA appears to have looked for other suppliers to provide the said parts.

GA's 10" PDW submachine gun, which uses components of the M16 family and a special 7.62x37mm Musang ammo.Photo taken from Wikimedia commons.

5. GA M14 SOCOM 16 - using a standard M14 rifle, GA refurbished it, replacing old and worn out parts with new ones, used lighter components to reduce weight, and replaced the 22" barrel into a shortened 16" one, which is preferred length of Special Operations units. Several components were sourced from foreign manufacturers since the GA does not produce components for the M14 or for 7.62mm chambered rifles.

GA's M14 SOCOM 16 rifle, which is similar to the Springfield Armory's M1A SOCOM 16.Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons.

As earlier mentioned, all these products by the Government Arsenal are either considered as prototypes, or at best, are scheduled to be tested soon by field units of the AFP. Thus, with the AFP and other agencies already needing the weapons as soon as possible, it cannot wait for the GA to put its proposed products to complete testing and evaluation, rectification, and full production, which MaxDefense believes to be by 2016 at earliest.The Remington R4A3 Acquisition for the Philippine Army and Philippine Marines:The only major small arms acquisition project undertaken within the term of Pres. Aquino III is for the joint rifle requirement for the Philippine Army and Philippine Marine Corps. Originally, 50,629 units were acquired with a budget of Php 3.189 billion, with the Philippine Army getting 44,186 units while the Philippine Marines gets 6,443 units.For discussions sake, the Philippine Army has around 90,000 men, while the Philippine Marine Corps has around 8,500 men.With the Remington R4A3 acquisition, the rifles would be enough to arm almost 50% of the entire Army, and almost 75% of the entire Marine Corps, irregardless if they work in the field or not. And we have not yet even included the follow-up order made by the DND for an additional 23,622 rifles which would again be divided between the PA and PMC.

The executive summary of the Joint PA-PMC Assault Rifle Acquisition Project, showing the original and additional orders.Photo taken from VJ Defense's blog page.

Although this sounds like good news, it seems to be the other way around for the Government Arsenal and for any effort to replace the old M16A1 with a locally made rifle.Looking at the numbers, we can immediately see that the rifle requirement for both the Philippine Army and Philippine Marine Corps are almost filled-up by the Remington R4A3 acquisition, considering that not all troops are assigned in the field and require a rifle, and that other troops are assigned with another existing weapon like snipers, marksmen, drivers and vehicle crew, squad automatic gunner, and many others.Aside from these, several of the old M16A1s are being programmed for refurbishing and upgrade, before releasing again to field units to complement the new Remington R4A3 rifles.So, who will now need a considerable quantity of new assault rifles?Remaining Markets for Additional Rifles:The Philippine Navy and Marine Corps have another request for 7,500 rifles as part of the RAFPMP Horizon 1 phase that will be acquired by public tender. If this project is awarded to another manufacturer, or is negotiated as another additional order with Remington, then that's 7,500 units of lost opportunity for the Government Arsenal.Only the Philippine Air Force has not requested for new assault rifles, but their nature of work and organization size does not require many assault rifles in their arsenal. MaxDefense believes that there is nothing much to expect from the PAF in this regard, and at best they will require replacements only for their M16A1 in secondary duties like base defense.So far, the AFP has not released an immediate requirement for funding of a sub-machine gun acquisition within the Horizon 1 phase of the Revised AFP Modernization program, although it could request such weapons in small numbers using their annual budget or other sources.Horizon 2:The only other significant opportunity for the Government Arsenal aside from the follow-on order from Remington by the DND is for any additional rifle and/or sub-machine gun orders from the AFP as part of the RAFPMP's Horizon 2 phase starting on 2018.So far, the Philippine Army still has a large requirement for assault rifles for Horizon 2, exceeding 20,000 units more, plus several hundreds of Designated Marksman Rifles, probably to standardize the entire organization to a new rifle replacing the M16A1, plus additional rifles for reserve and other purposes.In this regard, Remington's R4A3 and Knights Armaments SR-25 already have a head-start, being the new standard rifle and and current marksman/sniper rifle, respectively, of the Philippine Army. But the quality issues that affected the first batch of 50,000+ rifles and delayed its commissioning with the Philippine Army by almost a year could be a valid reason not to get more rifles directly from Remington.If the DND will acquire rifles by direct procurement, then GA's M4A1 or 16" Mid-Length Carbine could be chosen, allowing GA to finally start a full production of its own rifle. But if the DND again go for tender, then the chances that GA will be chosen, or even allowed to join the tender is very slim.Aside from rifles, the Philippine Army will also be needing a few hundred sub-machine guns within Horizon 2 phase. This is probably to replace older models still in service like the M3 Grease Gun still in used by armored vehicle crew from the Mechanized units. But an issue here is the specified requirement. Documents obtained by MaxDefense shows that the proposed requirement is for a sub-machine gun chambered for 9 mm rounds, not 7.62 mm rounds similar to GA's 10" PDW.

The Philippine Army still uses upgraded M3 Grease Guns, especially with the Mechanized Infantry Division as personal defense weapon of armored vehicle crew. The GA 10" PDW could be a good replacement for these weapons.

The Philippine Navy and Philippine Marine Corps will be the next possible market for new assault rifles within the AFP, but with the PMC expected to be saturated with the Remington R4A3 and whatever rifle they will choose for the Joint PN-PMC 5.56mm Standard Weapons System, orders will definitely be by small batches as well.

If all these upcoming projects are not awarded to the Government Arsenal, MaxDefense doesn't see any other chance to economically produce its own rifle line with a large volume order soon. GA may only rely on small batch orders which may not be economical due to economies of scale.Non-AFP Market:Aside from the AFP, the largest possible market for GA-made assault rifles will come from the Philippine National Police, specifically the Special Action Force, Regional Mobile Groups, and the different SWAT teams.But it is expected that the maximum they can order in the next few years will only be for a few thousand units, and may still be not enough for an economic production run.Aside from rifles, MaxDefense believes that all other government agencies will be more interested in small batches of sub-machine guns rather than rifles, but will probably go for models chambered for 9mm or .45 caliber types instead of 5.56mm NATO or the 7.62x37mm Musang due to commonality with what they already have, and in the case of the 10" PDW, to avoid the reliance on a new type of round that will tie them up with GA

The PNP recently chose the KRISS Vector SMG in the new 9mm version for their sub-machine gun requirement, in which they will acquire more than 700 units.

The AFP as GA's Best Hope:The GA has been looking for a foreign partner for some years now for it to be able to produce high quality M16/M4 series assault rifles, and with the entry of Remington in the AFP's inventory, the DND should have asked them to partner with GA and build the rifles in GA's facility in Bataan instead of manufacturing and importing them again from the United States. Time-wise, it would be faster for Remington to deliver 23,000 rifles manufactured from their US facility. But the PA and PMC could adjust the delivery date in favor of a licensed Remington rifle manufactured by GA without hurting their requirements.The partnership with a well established foreign partner like Remington would improve the Government Arsenal's capability, technology, facility, and knowledge base, while allowing it to gain experience and track record from the award of a project. As part of a joint venture deal, the foreign partner will provide GA a transfer of technology which is included in the licensing agreement.

The last time the Philippines manufactured a licensed international rifle was when Elisco Tool made the M16A1 assault rifle and M653P carbine under license from Colt USA starting in the mid-1970s.Bottom photo taken from n2o2rox's Photobucket collection.

This technology could then be harnessed by GA for their own use, like further improving their products base like those listed earlier in this blog, although a theoretical GA-foreign entity partnership could also work well as a combined entity. It could also allow GA to export its products to other countries, including joining in tenders/biddings as their credibility as a supplier can be cemented if the AFP awarded them with a contract, especially those worth more than Php 1 billion like the follow-on order made by DND with Remington.A similar example of this is what the Malaysian company SME Ordnance did with Colt USA that enabled them to locally produce the Colt M4 for the Malaysian Armed Forces, and even offer it for export to the Philippines as part of negotiations before the DND decided to bid the project that was ultimately won by Remington.

A Malaysian solider with a Colt M4A1 carbine manufactured under license by Malaysian company SME Ordnance Sdn Bhd.Photo taken from Kuala Lumpur Security Review website

The DND should have not opted to outright acquire additional 23,622 R4A3 rifles from Remington for the Philippine Army and Philippine Marine Corps, and instead, should have assisted the Government Arsenal to find a joint venture investor first that will enable it to jump-start any rifle development. With more than 50,000 M16A1s being off-loaded by front line troops due to the issuance of the R4A3 rifles, the GA will have enough rifles to refurbish that could be issued to non-front line troops while waiting for a new rifle to be procured.Also, the DND should stop tendering any rifle or sub-machine gun requirement for the entire AFP from now on, and instead support the Government Arsenal as its priority supplier by directly acquiring from them. A secure order for significant rifle and sub-machine gun orders under Horizon 2 and 3 are the best bet for the Government Arsenal to reach this aspiration of small arms self-sufficiency.If the GA fails to find a joint venture partner, it would be difficult for GA to invest its limited resources on small arms production if the DND cannot commit to support them. Any effort to start would be a gamble that GA has to risk.The question now is, will the DND support the Government Arsenal by pushing to acquire weapon systems from them, with or without a foreign partner? Or will it continue to go for foreign arms manufacturer, leaving GA to only supply ammunition, and do repair and refurbishing works of existing small arms? That remains to be seen. With the 16" Mid Length Carbine Mod. 0, 16" Squad Designated Marksman Rifle, and 10" PDW about to undergo field testing, MaxDefense believes that there is still hope for DND to consider GA's efforts and quest for a high quality, indigenous small arms manufacturing capability to support the Philippines' armed services.

Hundreds of 16" Mid Length Carbine are prepared for shipping to JSOG and NAVSOG units for field testing and evaluation.Photo taken from Government Arsenal's Facebook page.

Perhaps the refurbished/remodeled m16a1 and m14 can be passed to the cafgu and the reserves...... i believe we have acquired some experience in manufacturing and refurbishing the rifles in marcos time.... it's just a pity there's an obvious lack of government support.... anyway i idolized general martir noong nasa marines pa siya ang dami na nyang innovations.... god bless him!

Since we have order ripples for the Army and Marines our DND should stop ordering from foreign companies our DND should support GA for its project why not we use all of this GA products for our PNP, NAVY and AIR FORCE this department are not in frontline anyways until such time that those manufactured guns will be proven in capabilities then the ARMY and the MARINES will next to be.

It so sad, that the very armed service of our country will not push to support our very own indigenous programs. Gone are the days of Marcus and the genuine pride Filipino pride of our government officials. Our only hope now is to create awareness in the general public and the Filipino troops (whom is the end user) to push for, and pressure DND to choose locally produced rifles. The use of lobbying, social media, organized public demonstration and any other forms publication is our several options to gather enough support. Their is still hope! One comment at a time! ;)

The GA tried to make a rifle without any foreign partner. This was a big mistake! As you mentioned, Sir Max, it is not an easy task to make a rifle that would meet Western standards.

You would need equipment that would make the parts of a rifle, you would need to make sure your raw materials like steel would meet certain standards, you need to have the right manufacturing processes & procedures, you must meet milspec tolerances, etc. etc. In other words, without a significant foreign partner like a Colt, Remington or H&K, the GA rifle project is doomed from the start.

Well, you certainly have a point but if i recall it right the army was recruiting, the GA made rifle could complement it or the GA can make their own production licensed version of the m4 or m16, either way i have strongg feeling that the GA will have a full production line ready by 2016 as you said. Its based not on anything, just a gut feeling that the GA made rifle would be a standard issued rifle that would later compliment Remingtons R4.

Apparently GA & Colt Malaysia was already talking to manufacture in the phil as joint venture for some reason Remington end up with the contract to supply another DND magic perhaps...have you got any more story regarding this cause this was the GA joint venture needed to start manufacturing in the Philippines. http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2015/08/31/1494118/faulty-army-rifles-camefrom-equally-flawed-deal

...P50bilion aquino administration, P25Billion GMA administration, & 5Billion Estrada administration..to date. 35,000 contract only 700 went onto competitive the rest negotiated daw! bidding last year alone, 32,000 contract only 500 went onto competitive bidding the previous year the figures are too great..Rampant corruption still exist.....that is why all branches of the AFP still in a very, very, very sorry state...am all for AFP modernization for this to happen it need some serioussssss house keeping in the whole AFP & DND branches to any administration otherwise no progress...lastly people seem to have a very short memory these days!

I agree. our local indigenous defense industry is fighting an uphill battle because our very own government does not support it. what happened to the local APC being tested? like mandirigma, then some newer versions. they say there were some defects well. that's usually happens but it should not be the end of the product. even the US make bad products for their defense like the F22 but they retest and improve and make changes. like the Opphry helicopter plane, when they first came out with the prototypes a few crashed and killed a dozen marines but now it has been corrected and is being used in operational areas. we can make many defense items if our government has the will but they don't and its a pity because in the long run this industry will create more jobs for us and revenues. I'm sure all of us know already that the defense industry is a billion dollar industry lead by US, Russia, China, France and Germany and now Japan wants to get that share of the pie. we used to even have the helicopter project, santa Barbara project which cory Aquino killed, the only one left and survived was Armscor. when we vote this questions should be asked to political candidates on what is their stand on our local defense industries and strengthening our defense capabilities. voters should hear them so we know who to vote next time.

I was able to speak with Director Martir at the GA's booth during the last AFAD show in June. I got to asking about the 16" service carbines and he mentioned that their plans are to retrofit new barrels and gas systems (in the case of the field test prototypes, cold hammer-forged Daniel Defense barrels) onto the Remington R4s when they cycle in for maintenance. Much like they've been doing for the M16A1s.

As an aside, he also made mention of their tests showing markedly greater accuracy from the DD barrels than the barrels that came standard with the R4s.

As for the matter of the AFP's rifle/carbine requirements being filled out, I wouldn't worry about it. The rifle manufacturing project was approved by the leadership of the DND in the first place, and while the large-scale purchases were made to satisfy the immediate requirements of the AFP, the GA's planned joint-venture manufacturing project is there for the long-haul. After all, those new rifles are eventually going to need spare parts and repairs, and eventually replacement.

The the biggest ace in the GA's sleeve is the letter of the law, which mandates that the uniformed services acquire from the arsenal their supply of ammunition and weapons. It's only been in recent years that the Arsenal's modernization has allowed it to supply 100% of the requirements of the military. Before that, it was necessary to acquire ammo from other entities. It'll be the same thing with small arms: as the GA's capabilities and capacities improve, the uniformed services will be able to source from them, as they're mandated by law.

Also, regarding the PN and PMC's requirement for 7.62x51mm DMRs: I actually seem to recall Director Martir having mentioned on the Timawa board a while ago that the budget allocated for that requirement was too small for the project was too small and the bid failed. He said that the PMC resorted to asking the GA to refurbish their older M14s into DMR variants like the SOCOM 16 pictured above.

Another request that was mentioned by him and was noted in the GA's last publication was that by the PNP-SAF to refurbish and upgrade several hundred units of small arms.

Thanks for your input Ben, I appreciate that important details you pointed out. By the time the R4A3s will need servicing, they are probably way beyond warranty and modification to 16"ers won't be a problem. Was there any indication that a barrel/parts manufacturer like Daniel Defense could set-up shop in GA's proposed defense industrial park.

If GA is pushing to standardize 16" CHF barrels on carbines, it means that their proposed M4A1 won't hold long too since they would rather push for a new build 16" Mid Length Carbine.

Surprised that your info is that the PN-PMC DMR was already tendered out, since it was only approved by the Pres. last July. If they decide to convert existing M14s to DMRs, did he mentioned if there are plans to follow USMC suit of making some as Enhanced Marksman Rifles (EMR) similar to those used by the USMC? I recall that it was among those listed as GA plans on their bulletin.

No mention of any collaboration with Daniel Defense, though the Director mentioned that their qualitative testing on outsourced parts (specifically partially-completed AR-15 receivers) made the Arsenal more inclined towards a couple American suppliers (unnamed) over others (unnamed Taiwanese supplier).

The 16" carbines would cover the "service rifle" variant outlined in the GA's rifle manufacturing project. The two other main variants being the M4A1 "Recon/SOF" and the "DMR/SPR" variants. This is all outlined in a previous issue of the GA's Bullet-in publication (October 2011), available on their website. So unless there's a change of plans what we can expect is the 16" carbines being issued to the rank and file with the M4s issued to the special operations units. What I'm wondering is what they'll do with all the spare M4 parts once they retrofit all the R4s.

Don't quote me on the PN-PMC DMR project, I've only heard it second-hand from Director Martir. He may have been talking about a different acquisition project for all know. (I didn't even know the PMC was looking for a new DMR before he mentioned it.) He did voice out that converting the M14s was a sub-optimal option, given that accurizing the M14 platform is more complicated and maintenance intensive than the AR platform.

As for the PDW, I didn't learn anything that you don't already know. The Director mentioned the delay caused by the supplier issue. Though I did find out that they're still to conduct extensive ballistic gel tests on the Musang cartridge.

Saab is going to be at Pacific 2015 (https://www.pacific2015.com.au/) showcasing the Bonefish USV (http://saab.com/region/saab-australia/naval/bonefish/), the A26 submarine, the 9LV combat management system, the FLEXPatrol (http://saab.com/naval/Submarines-and-Warships/naval-surface-ships/Kockums-FLEXpatrol/), etc. All of which might be of interest to the Philippine Navy. Pacific 2015 is not open to the public, but they have an entry for people working in publications, which might allow you to register as part of the media.

Please consider trying to cover Pacific 2015. Thanks.

PS: There's no actual need to publish this as a comment. I'm just using it as a way to contact you.

that's not the point. the point is to produce our own assault rifles means a lot of testing according to specs before being issued to our grants. you know what I mean? now if we do not support our GA products then we might as well abolished GA because its going a waste of taxpayers money what they are intended for which is to make our own and be less dependent on foreign suppliers. so when you son gets the rifle its already guaranteed it will work in battle.

The AFP should have waited first for GA to finally complete its development of their locally-made rifle range. To address shortcomings in the short term, the order for R4A3 could have been reduced to just 30,000 units, and if GA fails in its rifle development, then the AFP/DND could order more R4A3s later on.

siempre it should not be the end of the world for GA for the assault rifle program. the testing, research, improvements must continue until the specs are met and tested in the field. then once accepted this can be issued to the remaining military and police forces who are in need of more assault rifles instead of ordering new M4 imports from remmington in the near future. we have to think positive gents.

The assault rifle requirements of our armed forces may have been met with the Remington deal but the GA can still try to partner with a foreign company to produce a capable 5.56mm squad automatic weapon locally. It can either be with IWI for a local analogue of the Negev or with Daewoo for the currently issued K3 SAW. I'm hoping it would be with the former,, but there is still a significant gap in the number of SAW's the military employs for the tactics and doctrine's it currently implements.

Not only 4 new units FREMM /// we have also ordered 6 new unit of U212 from Germany, 12 new unit of A400M, 2 units of LPD from Indonesia, 24 units of F16V, 12 units F35, 1 unit of LHD, 3 units of KDXIII from Korea and many others ..

So, I am optimistic that wewill have guts to fight China if all of toys above come to PH by latest 2019

Sir Max, any idea what will happen to the RAN's Adelaide frigates? As i understand they will be unloaded in 2016. Any chance they could be classified as EDA? or wont they be feasible for the PN since they are basically OHP's? thank you

Thanks for this post. People who really need to get the guns for safety purpose may join the Firearms safety training classes and get the guns of their choice so as to gain confidence while moving on the roads alone.

A former naval officer of the Philippine Navy, initially a reservist before becoming an active officer, opted to retire early and migrate to another country. Aside from being in the service, he has been following Philippine and regional defence issues, as well as military technology and industrial movements, and developments in regional military upgrades since the mid 1990s. He has been involved in other defence sites & minor publications for the past several years, and a regular at regional defence exhibitions & symposiums. Currently works as a systems consultant for a foreign military organisation. As a defence writer, he has no political affiliation, and would not hesitate to criticise any political leader, organisation, or political part when issues on defence and security of the Philippines are believed to be in peril.